Monday, April 30, 2012

Posted on April 25, 2012, Wednesday
TANJONG KARANG: A local entrepreneur who invested RM60,000 of his savings on producing bid’s nest-based beauty care products is now reaping the rewards with a net monthly income of RM10,000. Zanizan Ahmad, 42, manager of Gerbang Jaya Resources, the company he formed in 2010 to produce his Cahya Walit line of products, told Bernama here he began with a business cleaning bird’s nests for a local exporter in 2009.

Zanizan said he was convinced of the efficacy of the products after several of his workers told him their hands had become softer. Applying a little ground bird’s nest on his face, he found it became less oily and the pigmentation had gone.

His first product was a bird’s nest collagen soap for sensitive skin in 2010, and within a year sales hit RM15,000 a month.

In the middle of last year he introduced a similar soap for normal skin incorporating virgin coconut oil. Zanizan, who received assistance from the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama), has five workers, including two of his children, who are trained in the technique of cleaning the sensitive bird’s nests by a master from Penang.

He is also introducing a bird’s nest-based beauty cream by August after it has undergone trials, he said, adding he is in discussions to export to China by year-end and to the Middle East next year. — Bernama

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Malaysia, China to sign bird nest draft protocol

Posted on April 9, 2012, Monday
MUAR: Malaysia will sign the draft protocol on bird nest entry into China soon to resume export of the luxury item to the country which has been halted several months ago. The Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Datuk Seri Noh Omar said the three main conditions for the resumption of bird nest export to China had been agreed upon in the latest negotiation between the two countries.

He said among the conditions were that Malaysian bird nest exporters must have the Radio Frequency Identification certificate issued by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to detect the locations of problematic bird nest using radio wave frequency.

Two more conditions, he said were the Veterinary Department’s certificate of health and the Ministry of Health’s health certificate. “The measures are to ensure bird nest products for export to China are not only from healthy birds but the product is also safe for consumption,” he said when opening the Bakri Parliamentary Constituency Farmers’ Organisation annual general meeting at Maktab Rendah Sains MARA, Bakri, Muar here on Saturday.

He said the halt to the entry of Malaysian bird nest into China resulted in many operators facing problems.
“The market price of bird nest plunged from RM4,000 and   RM5,000 to only RM1,500 per kilogramme. Many faced problems in servicing their bank loans,” he said.

Elaborating further on the new conditions, Noh Omar said only products which met the conditions would be permitted to use the ‘Malaysia Best ‘ logo if they were to be exported. He said the logo was also to prevent Malaysia from becoming a transit for bird nest from other countries banned from entering the market in China. — Bernama